Power supply resumed in the quake-stricken area in the southwestern province of Yunnan by Sunday evening, said the local government.

An earthquake measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale hit Tongbiguan Township, about 40 kilometers from the Yingjiang County seat at 8:36 p.m. on Friday.

Twenty-seven houses collapsed and 4,541 others were damaged in the quake, affecting 3,735 households with 18,403 people in 15 townships. But no casualties have been reported by 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, the county government said.

The earthquake also damaged parts of rural roads, forced evacuation of 4,800 people and caused power cuts in some villages of Tongbiguan Township.

The area, at China-Myanmar border, has been hit by nearly 100 aftershocks since the Friday quake, the heaviest measuring 4.0 magnitude, said the provincial seismological bureau.

The area, prone to quakes, has undergone three tremors above 5.0 magnitude since 1900.

(Xinhua News Agency March 24, 2008)